Ever since I moved to Asia over a decade ago, I’ve lived without television. That’s not to say I’ve not had a TV set at home, but I don’t watch it any more. It’s not something I miss – Youtube and other web-based services have taken over the slot that TV used to fill, but whenever I see certain cars, I do get flashbacks of the TV shows I used to watch back in Europe. Cars like this Dart, for instance, take me back to childhood, when the French channels consisted in a steady diet of American cop/action shows.
We had a lot of ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s American stuff on TV: Columbo, Starsky & Hutch, Ironside, Hawaii Five-O, Dukes of Hazzard, The Fall Guy, T.J. Hooker, Charlie’s Angels… I bet there was a Dart or ten in every season of every one of those shows. Finding one of these in the wild is not unlike bumping into a character actor. Especially with those hubcaps.
Why is it I get those TV flashbacks when encountering Chrysler and Ford products of that era, but usually not GM ones? I get the impression that cop cars (except Columbo, of course) were usually Plymouths or Fords, but not Chevrolets. Maybe I’m misremembering those shows – it had been a very long time since I’ve seen them.
But then, I guess there were a lot of Darts about in the States in real life anyway. Dodge built about 200,000 Darts in 1969 alone, including 22,000 Customs with a V8 like this one (both in hardtop and sedan form), so there were a lot of these being churned out during that very long 1967-76 generation.
I wonder how many were exported. These would have been on the larger side for Europe or Japan, but much more user-friendly than the gigantic full-sizers that the Big Three were offering at the time.
Chrysler sold these under different names in many global markets, and even assembled them in a number of places (Australia, Brazil, Spain…), so it was one Detroiter you might actually encounter overseas on a fairly regular basis. I distinctly remember one (a later, mid-‘70s sedan) still being used as a taxi in Geneva in the early ‘90s.
Again, compared to giant behemoths like the Chrysler 300 we saw recently, even the interior looks pretty normal. It has a few touches of mock-sportiness to give an otherwise boring dash a bit of flavour. That’s what you get for forking out the extra bread and getting the fancier “Custom”…
What you don’t really get is a usable back seat. But that’s ok, if you wanted one of those, you could order the four-door sedan. The two-door sedan, alas, was no longer on the roster for 1969.
The Custom trim also provided for a trendy vinyl roof, which has seen better days in this particular car. The real purpose of this photo, though, was to capture that backlight’s curvature. A striking feature, but also the polar opposite of the windshield philosophy that American cars had at the start of the decade: from panoramic to concave in less than ten years.
Question for those of you who are well-versed in Dartology, by the way: what the dingus is this? Vaguely ballistic, isn’t it?
But let’s get back to the TV procedural theme we started this post with. I think a passing shot of the dog-dished Dart going through an alley, with a bit of Dutch angle…
Add an appropriately upbeat but dissonant instrumental, heavy on the strings and horns…
And a title card that reads, à la Streets of San Francisco, “Epilog.” I’m not going to go out of my way to watch on of those old TV shows again, but you can call me a convert to the late ‘60s Dart.
Related posts:
CC And Vintage Review: 1969 Dodge Dart 2-Door Hardtop – Swinger Or Solid Citizen?, by GN
Curbside Classic: 1969 Dodge Dart GT – A Genuine GT For My Father, by PN
Vintage Dealers: 1969 Dodge Darts And Simca Esplanadas In Brazil – The Changing Of The Guards, by Rich Baron
Cohort Pic(k) Of The Day: 1969 Dart Swinger – Serious Swinger Love, by Rich Baron
Kojak drove a 1973 Buick Century. So GM had some presence on TV shows.
Not that it made any sense. NYPD was not going to spring for a Buick.
Ford and Chrysler did seem to have much more aggressive product-placement marketing along with a lead in the real-world police market, both of which seem to be things GM tiptoed at the edges of when their overall market share was around 50% and often topped it if they had a good year and the others didn’t.
Those ‘vaguely ballistic’ things on the front fenders were turn signal indicators for the driver to view…looks like they got sealed off at some point when they stopped working, maybe…?
I stored a 68 Plymouth for somebody for a while and from memory, what looks like a large screw jammed in there is actually a dark orange plastic lens, you unscrew it to change the bulb.
Here is pic from Joseph Dennis’s Plymouth Fury story, also posted today, showing the same item,
For some reason pic won’t load.
they would have been more useful if they used fiber optics or light pipes from the actual turn signals so you could detect a burnt out bulb. GM did this the 70s with taillights on some luxury cars and a fiber optic line to a sort of periscope on the parcel shelf
My first thought was that those are deer whistles on the front fenders, but now I’m not sure.
I think Ford and Chrysler worked harder at getting their cars featured in television in the 1960s and early 70s than GM did. Although Bewitched was always full of Chevrolets.
I still think this is one of the most pleasing designs of its era.
Because Chevy was a big sponsor. TV was still in the single-sponsor show era.
Chevrolet and then Pontiac sponsored My Three Sons.
With around 45 percent of the market in the early 1960s – and the Kennedy Administration making noises about splitting Chevrolet off from the rest of GM on anti-trust grounds – it wasn’t as though GM needed to boost its visibility with the general public.
And Chevrolet “owned” Bonanza for years. That was the #1 rated show, IIRC.
Which was ironic, because when these shows aired in foreign countries, we just saw them as ‘generic American car’, with a side thought of ‘aren’t they huge?’. Well, that’s what we thought in Australia; the size disparity and resultant response must have been more pronounced in European and Asian countries.
Nice.
It reminds me a bit of my ’69 Swinger which has a more austere and spartan exterior trim / bright work. The Door panels and Interior are very similar to my car.
Here is a little video of it for anyone interested
Cool video! Car has a nice sound to it.
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it.
Love it! I used to spend a lot of time fantasizing about an A-Body set up just like that. I’m an inline six lover; nothing sounds better!
Good for you knowing what you wanted back then and keeping it!
Thanks, as the weather is nice around these parts for now and most of the salt washed away we took it to dinner and errand running last night.
How does he even see out of that windshield? If that isn’t a recipe for an accident, while driving through round abouts, I don’t know what is. Wouldn’t common sense tell you to glue those stickers onto the upper right hand side of a windshield instead?
The Australian versions of the Dart were locally manufactured rather than assembled and the range never included any big-blocks, the only V8s mild versions of the (imported) 273 & 318. In the last of the line (1970-1971), the 225 was replaced with the locally made 245 cid “Hemi” six and there were even some 4 barrel versions homologated for competition. There was no convertible but as well as the two-door hardtop, there were sedans in two wheelbases, a wagon and a ute. Structurally, the Australian versions were close to the US versions (except for the 245 six) but there were detail differences in the interior and exterior trim.
Nice VG VIP there. Yours?
A friend occasionally drove his dad’s beige VIP to school. Gave me a ride home one day, my first experience of a V8. Effortless.
Don’t forget “Mannix” on CBS, he drove 68-69 Dart GT’s on his show. Watched it every Saturday night.
Yes, And I think it was semi Customized by possibly George Barris?
My childhood memories of this generation of A-bodies is chock full of versions from about 1972 onward. Around, when I started car spotting. Examples dating from the 1960’s, were already surprisingly rare.
It depended upon what TV programs you watched. ABC debuted The Rookies in September 1972. It featured many Chevrolet Bel Air police cars. Plenty of 1973 era LTDs squad cars as well.
NBC debuted Police Story in 1973. It also featured many Bel Air police cars. Both shows appealed to a younger demographic. Favourite shows of mine then.
I love how you shoot the rear window with a shotgun and the window blasts out. Man, I have gotten so picky as I have gotten older since I didn’t notice it back then.
Nice Dart. I have a soft spot for this generation. Not just because the first car I ever drove in Driver’s training was a 1969 Dart but also because I think the car looks so damn good.
My eyes could never get used to that caved in front grill design.
Agreed. Australia tooled up a new hood for ’69, after which the cars looked much more normal.
And let’s not forget Brazil, who did some light changes to their local version of the 1969 Dart.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ifhp97/49718650476
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/cc-global-the-brazilian-dodge-dartcharger-genuine-mopar-v8-this-time-around/
As an owner of several Darts over the yrs, I can tell you those are definitely turn signal indicators.
A very interesting find! Probably quite big enough tor Tokyo traffic too.
Such a shame the vinyl on the roof seems to be torn, but the owner keeps the car well polished, as seems to be the rule.
Interesting that the passenger side of the front seat shows holes for a headrest. I realise it’s a split bench, but I can’t see holes for one on the driver’s side – or am I underestimating the width and it’s just out of the photo? It seems strange the headrests would be removed; I don’t recall them as being too intrusive. Still, maybe for placing this in Tokyo traffic the added over-the-shoulder visibility is welcome.
What a clean solid 69, hardtop, and v8…!!! Perfect combo. The 69 dart to me was just the perfect style. Had a 69 gt convertble with the 225. Purchased at my local junkyard used car area For $100 Bucks… Black with black top and red bench seat interior and full wheel covers, liked the style of them also. Just a pleasing car.. Lifters were so tickey, I adjusted them up correctly. She purred like a kitten and I proceeded to drive it for five years.. One of the best cars I ever owned.. Ended up selling it for $600.
In England at the moment on the old time TV channels they’re showing Highway to Heaven a lot … & on recent cold , frosty Saturdays in 10 hrs runs ! ! Absolutely chock full of all sorts of cars .
Years ago in our small town when we were teenagers & early 20’s a mate had a 67 ? I think Plymouth Valiant 2dr , (3 on the tree) it was mint green with a wide brown strip down middle , we usta call it the mint choc chip but to us lads it was the best thing in the world .
a few years later after he moved away a new mate got a Dart sedan (poss 73) ratty in matt black paint with ‘goth’ logos .. ah the old days 😁
Grew up around 4 Darts, ’63, ’65, ’71, ’74, and a Lancer.
I had a VF 2 door 69 with the 225 slant.
Paid 750 and sold it 5 years later for 750. Brakes were scarey drums and my mates 245 VG 2 door was so much faster….even after I put a two barrel and a 35/75 cam in the old slant..